


At the End of the Storm

by babs



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Team
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:06:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25877887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babs/pseuds/babs
Summary: A storm off world has the team apart and Jack is not a happy camper.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 54





	At the End of the Storm

**Author's Note:**

> Hurt Comfort Round 11 Bingo fill: Destruction/Natural Disasters

"Sir."

"Carter," Colonel O'Neill said as Sam came up to him flanked by two of the Llyrians. He didn't like the look on face—it read trouble. "Why am I thinking I'm not going to be happy with what you're gonna say?"

"There's a storm coming. A bad one," she said. She looked at the man on her left. "Andras?"

"We've heard from one of the fishing vessels—no doubt. They're riding it out but they estimate it's going to hit by nightfall."

Damn. Jack nodded and then thumbed his radio. "Daniel. We're gonna need you here."

"Jack? You wouldn't believe..."

"Now," Jack told him. "We've got bad weather coming in."

"We're on our way," Daniel told him. "It'll be about two hours."

"Understood. No dilly dallying," Jack said.

"We'll be there."

Jack turned to Carter. "Get to the Gate. Tell them what's happening. Rescue teams, supplies, you know the drill."

"Yes, sir," Carter said and took off at a run. 

Jack did some quick calculations. It was going to be close. The thought of leaving these people on their own hadn't crossed his mind.

"You ever go through this before, Andras?"

The man nodded. "Many times. Our houses are safe. You will be welcome to shelter with us. Our concern is more for our fishing boats—the ones at sea."

He pointed to the lighthouse out on the breakwater. "That is what keeps our boats safe. When the storms come, they lose their way and there are hidden dangers beneath the surface."

"Got it," Jack told him. "How about you let me know what you need and what we can do to help?" He put his hand on the man's shoulder and followed him into the village.

* * * *

Daniel kept up his jog as Teal'c and their guide, Braith led the way over the rocky ground. The sea was to their left and Daniel found himself sneaking glances to the horizon seeing the black clouds rolling towards them, the blue sky getting darker and darker.. It was going to be close, he figured.

The village was ahead. Lights twinkled from houses and Braith stopped running. 

"We will be safe in the center hall," he told them.

Daniel nodded and stopped to take a few deep breaths while Teal'c radioed Jack.

The wind picked up, not allowing Daniel to hear Jack's reply. He looked out at the breakwater—the light shining through the rapidly darkening sky.

He squinted—someone was being pushed along by the wind on the rocks. The figure fell to the rocks and struggled to get up. Daniel didn't hesitate as he took off at a sprint towards the lighthouse.

He was vaguely aware of Teal'c's shout and Braith saying something.

He held his arms out as he skidded on the first rock.

"I'm coming," he yelled into the wind and began a more careful route over the rocks.

It was a woman—she looked up from her kneeling position and reached out a hand in supplication.

"Are you hurt?" Daniel asked as he reached her.

Her face twisted in pain and she let out a gasp. "Help me up."

He wrapped an arm around her and lifted her to her feet. Not hurt, but pregnant. Very very pregnant.

"I need..." her face twisted in pain again. "Midwife."

"You're in labor?" Daniel asked as he guided her a few steps forward. 

"Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said as he and Braith came beside them.

"Enide?" Braith said. 

"The baby's coming," Enide gasped. "Too early."

"Where is Marwyn?" Braith asked.

"He went out—the fish..." Enede nearly doubled over in Daniel's arms.

"Who is watching the light?" Braith demanded.

She shook her head. "Midwife."

"Teal'c, can you carry her?" Daniel asked. "I don't think she's going to be able to walk in this." Rain spattered the rocks and there was a loud clap of thunder.

"I can," Teal'c said. He scooped up Enede. "You are safe," he told her. "I will get you to the midwife."

"The light. We need to keep the light going," Braith said.

"I'll go with you," Daniel told him. It was probably as safe a place as any. He thumbed his radio and got only static. "Teal'c."

"I will inform O'Neill," Teal'c said. "Be safe, Daniel Jackson."

Daniel nodded and followed Braith as they made their way towards the tall light at the end of the breakwater.

* * * *

Damn. Sam kept her head down against the rain as she made her way back to the village. Colonel O'Neill was not going to be happy.

No incoming or outgoing Gate travel for at least three days as SG-14 had brought back some sort of alien flea that was currently making the entire SGC miserable but at least not in danger. 

She hunched her shoulders and picked up the pace. The storm seemed to be coming more quickly than expected and the wind cut through her jacket.

Soon the rain was coming down in sheets as she made her way into the village, unsure of where to find the colonel.

Someone grabbed her arm as a particularly strong gust of wind nearly knocked her over.

"Come in," the person said and pulled her into the warmth of a house.

Sam stood in the room and wiped her eyes.

"Thank you," she said and looked at her rescuer—a young woman with two small girls who were staring at her.

"No matter," the woman said. She shooed the children away. "Get your things."

Sam looked down at the puddle growing around her boots. "If you have a towel, I can wipe this."

The woman shook her head. "We're headed for the central hall."

Sam frowned. "Central hall?"

"We gather there when there is a storm," the woman explained. "You are Major Carter?"

"Yes," Sam said. "Well you can call me Sam."

"I am Heledd." She smiled and Sam found herself smiling back.

The children reappeared carrying some blankets and dolls. 

"Follow me," Heledd said. She opened a door in the back of the room and motioned for the children to go first.

Sam looked around in amazement as she found herself in a small covered passageway that apparently connected all the houses to the central hall.

There were a few people walking ahead of them, chatting and laughing.

Heledd took Sam's arm in hers, apparently not bothered by the damp. "We shall get to know each other better."

Sam nodded and let herself be led along.

* * * *

"Teal'c?" A quick glance told Jack that the person in Teal'c's arms was not one Daniel Jackson.

"The midwife," Teal'c called. "She needs the midwife."

"Come, come quickly." An older woman came at a rush. She beckoned for Teal'c to follow her with the moaning woman. Jack trailed after them.

"Where's Daniel?" Jack demanded when Teal'c emerged from the small secluded room minus the woman he'd carried. 

"The lighthouse, O'Neill," Teal'c said. "Enide was on the causeway in labor. Braith and Daniel Jackson went to the lighthouse to maintain the light."

There was a cry from the room and the midwife came to Teal'c. "You must come. Enide wants you to be with her."

Teal'c raised one eyebrow as he looked at Jack. "O'Neill?"

"Go. And good luck," he said as he headed back to the large hall. 

Damn it. He was not liking these developments at all. Carter still hadn't returned from her trip to the Gate and now Daniel was at the lighthouse of all places. He wanted his team together to ride out this storm. 

"Sir." 

Jack saw Carter headed towards him from across the room. She was soaked and shivered when the met.

"We're here for at least three days, Colonel," she reported. "There's a flea infestation at the SGC."

"Fleas?" Jack asked. "Did someone bring a stray dog in?"

"SG-14 brought them home from their mission." Carter shuddered. "General Hammond is not happy." She looked up at him. "No one else is either." She scratched her neck as if the mere thought of the bugs made her itch. "Where are Daniel and Teal'c?"

Jack grimaced. He wasn't happy either. "Teal'c is with the midwife." When Carter's eyes widened. "He carried a woman from the lighthouse. She wants Teal'c with her."

"And Daniel?"

"Daniel's at the lighthouse."

"He should be safe there, sir," Carter said. 

"Should be is the operative phrase, Carter," Jack told her. He looked at her. "Why don't you go see if you can get dried off somewhere?"

"Yes, sir," she said.

"Andras?" A short search through the increasingly crowded hall led him to the man.

"Yes, Colonel O'Neill?" Andras smiled at the man who'd brought him a clipboard and nodded before the other man walked away.

"Braith and Daniel are at the lighthouse," Jack told him.

"It is Enide's first child. She's young and the child is coming early. Her husband thought she would be fine while he went with the fleet one more time before the babe came." Andras told him.

"And?" Jack tried to keep his voice calm.

"Braith knows what he is doing. Many of us are familiar with the light. It is very important to us." 

Jack let out a rough breath. "I understand."

It wasn't their fault, Jack reminded himself. These people didn't have weather satellites, had no way of knowing a storm of this magnitude was coming. And Daniel was with someone who knew what he was doing.

But still...

He tried the radio again, only to be met with the static that had been his only contact with Daniel for the last hour.

* * * *

"Braith!" Daniel called as the other man was knocked off his feet by a wave. He fell to his knees as he reached out to grab the other man's arm, the swirling water threatening to pull them both off the rocks.

Daniel put an arm around Braith's waist, pulling them both to their feet. Braith let out a groan.

"My leg," Braith yelled over the wind.

"We're nearly there," Daniel told him and when it was evident the Braith couldn't walk, lifted him in a fireman's carry. 

He deposited Braith on a bench and pushed the door shut behind them as the wind howled.

He leaned against it for a time, just to catch his breath and then deposited his pack and soaked jacket on the floor.

"Daniel," Braith said with a gasp. Daniel pulled his attention back to the task at hand.

"Let me see," Daniel told him. He knelt by the bench and one quick glance already told him what he feared. The other man's leg was broken. Legs just weren't supposed to bend that way. 

"Broken?" Braith asked, pushing himself up on his elbows.

"Yeah," Daniel nodded. He looked around the small room. 

"This isn't the keeper's cottage," Braith said. 

"Sorry about that," Daniel told him. "But I don't think I can get you there in this." He retrieved his pack and started rummaging through it. There had to be something he could use to splint the leg.

"You're going to have to tend the light," Braith told him. "I can't..." he motioned to the steps.

"Lighthouse keeping wasn't something I learned in school," Daniel said as he positioned himself at Braith's leg with some notebooks and pressure bandages.

"I can tell you what to do," Braith said. He laid back and put an arm over his eyes. "You'll be fine."

Daniel patted his shoulder and helped Braith take a drink from his canteen. "You need to rest for a bit first."

Braith nodded. "Just a little. You can't get the light go out."

"I know," Daniel said. His stomach twisted. He looked at his watch. He'd give him a half hour. He tried his radio again. It wasn't as if Jack could do anything but he'd feel a hell of a lot better if he could at least talk to him. There was only static.

Daniel took a deep breath and headed up the staircase.

* * * *

"I can't!" Enide screamed as she gripped Teal'c's hand even tighter.

"You can and you will," Teal'c told her. He wiped the young woman's forehead with the cloth the midwife had given him hours ago. "You wish to bring this child into the world, do you not?"

She looked at him, her green eyes wide. "I do. Marwyn..." She stopped to take a deeper breath.

"Lightkeeper Marwyn will return from the sea and you will greet him with your child," Teal'c said. 

She closed her eyes and nodded, a brief respite from her labor.

Teal'c glanced at the midwife. She was frowning and he did not like what that might convey.

She caught his glance and tilted her head towards the door.

Teal'c nodded. "I will return, Enide. I must attend to something else for a few moments."

"You'll come back?" She grabbed at his hand.

"I will. I will remain at your side until the child is born."

Teal'c walked to the door and joined the midwife.

"Is something amiss?" he asked her.

She nodded, kept her voice very low. "The babe...I can no longer feel it moving."

Teal'c nodded. "You fear it has died within her?"

"It's a possibility." She looked up at him as if he would have an answer. "Do your people have anything that could help us?"

"We have medications that would allow relief from pain but I fear they would also affect the child at this point," Teal'c said. "Allow me to speak to my companions."

The midwife nodded. "Go. She's sleeping for a bit."

Teal'c found O'Neill and Major Carter in the large hall. O'Neill paced back and forth, talking to Major Carter who was dressed in the clothing the townspeople wore. 

"Teal'c?" O'Neill said as he approached. "Has she had the baby?"

"She has not," Teal'c said. "And there is a problem." He quickly shared the information the midwife had given.

"We only have morphine," Major Carter said. "And with her condition now, I'd be afraid to..." Her blue eyes were troubled.

"I know," Teal'c said. "Has there been word of Daniell Jackson?"

"There hasn't," O'Neill said. "Daniel's radio evidently isn't working and Andras hasn't been able to reach them either." He hit his cap against his leg. "The light's still functioning so Andras is saying everything is fine."

"Daniel Jackson will return to us as soon as he is able," Teal'c said. O'Neill was a man of action—and now, he was unable to do anything to help their teammate.

"Go," O'Neill told him. "Help Enide."

Teal'c bowed his head in acknowledgment and returned to the small room.

The midwife had moved Enide to a stool and motioned for Teal'c to come in.

He knelt behind Enide and placed a hand on her forehead, encouraging her to rest it on his shoulder.

"Enide, you will listen to my voice and my voice alone," Teal'c told her. "The child will soon be here." He only hoped that he had not lied.

Enide gripped his hand and nodded assent. "Yes," she said through her tears.

Jaffa women were taught to be strong from birth—they were given no other choice. Those who were not strong did not survive. Enide's own strength humbled Teal'c. She relaxed into his arms, listened to his voice, did her best to follow his attempt to guide her in meditation. 

The child was not breathing when it entered the world—the skin had a blue-ish tint. Deep in the meditative state Teal'c had induced, Enide remained unaware her child was even born. Teal'c watched as the midwife rubbed the small body, as she blew gentle breaths into the child. He found himself holding his breath. The older woman looked over at him, her eyes bleak even as she continued her ministrations. 

Teal'c tensed and inadvertently jostled Enide

"My baby?" Enide said. "Where's my baby? What's wrong?"

Teal'c had nothing to say to her. He could not lie and give her false hope, but neither could he tell her what he feared—that the child had been born dead. He closed his eyes and then opened them at the sound of a weak cry which quickly became stronger.

"A girl," the midwife said. "A beautiful girl with Marwyn's hair and your eyes."

Enide took the child into her arms—all the pain and suffering forgotten. "She's perfect, is she not?" She looked up at Teal'c.

"She is indeed," Teal'c said.

* * * *

Daniel clipped the harness to the guide wire that allowed him to walk the short distance to the pump that kept the light going. He'd made the trip five times already. Would the night never end, he thought. It was getting even colder and the sea spray made the ground slippery with a fine coating of ice. A wave hit him and he grabbed the guide wire with both hands. He'd lost his gloves on the second trip and the wire bit into his skin. Another wave crashed down over him and then another. He hung on and held his breath.

Braith was worried, Daniel knew. The alarm letting them know the pump wasn't working was going off more frequently. And if it broke down, Daniel had no idea how to fix it. 

He made it to the pump and peered at it through the gloom. He pulled the rope and mentally crossed his fingers that it would start up again. Sam would have been fascinated by the mechanism. It ran a minute and then stopped. Daniel held his breath as he pulled the rope once more and then realized that the familiar light that flashed every 10 seconds was no longer flashing. Still on, but no flash. Would it be enough?

He let the wind push him along to the tower.

"The pump won't start. The light isn't flashing," Daniel said breathlessly. 

Braith looked up from the radio he was working on. "There's a manual pump. You'll have to use it. Handle in the floor. The light will go out otherwise."

"You...I won't be able to..." 

Braith was pale and shaking and Daniel hesitated just a moment, but he nodded and headed out into the storm again.

He lowered himself to the manual pump. At least there wasn't wind here, he thought. Of course he was in salt water up to mid calf. He pushed on the handle, praying to whatever gods watched over archaeologists who had no idea what they were doing, and hoped the manual pump was checked to make sure it functioned.

To his relief—the only relief he'd had for hours—the handle moved. Daniel began to walk, pushing the pump and counting in ancient Egyptian. He had at least twenty three languages to use, surely the storm would be over by then. 

* * * *

"Yes! 

Sam motioned for Colonel O'Neill to come to the radio set where she had spent most of her time with Heledd.

The other woman had been monitoring the chatter from the fishing fleet and now they were getting contact from the lighthouse.

Colonel O'Neill rested a hand on her shoulder as they both leaned in closer to hear.

"Pump...broken leg...'niel...man...storm end?"

"Braith, we can barely understand you," Heledd said. "Do you hear?"

"Hear," Braith replied. "How...storm...long?"

"Estimate wind should be dying down by dawn. We can send relief then," Heledd said.

There was a loud crackling sound and then nothing.

"Lost him again," Heledd said in apology. She rubbed her eyes and yawned..

"You need to get some rest," Sam said in sympathy. "Why don't you go rest with your children? I can monitor for a few hours."

The hall was fairly quiet as most of the villagers were either sleeping or speaking quietly among themselves.

"You are sure?" Heledd asked, even as she searched for her two children.

"I'm sure." Sam smiled and patted the other woman's hand. "Go. I'll be fine."

"Carter," the colonel said as he sat down in Heledd's abandoned chair.

"The fleet is headed back to port. And the worst is nearly done here too. Still rain but the wind's been dying down over the last hour." She yawned. "Andras said he expects to send a relief crew out to the lighthouse at dawn."

"How long until then?" Colonel O'Neill asked her. 

She looked at him and realized how hard this had been on him. She ran fingers through her stiffened hair. "What time is it now?"

He looked at his chronometer. "At the SGC, fourteen hundred."

Sam did a quick calculation in her head. "Then about three more hours." 

"You need to rest, Carter. Heledd wasn't the only one working," he gently said.

"And what about you?" she replied. 

"Got a nap a bit earlier," he said. "Some of the kids needed bedtime stories while their parents were making food for the adults."

Sam smiled. "You volunteered?"

"Did you really think I should cook?" He grinned briefly. "Someone else can take over."

Sam nodded. "Okay, but wake me up when it's time to go to the lighthouse." 

Colonel O'Neill patted her shoulder and then walked briskly to Andras. Soon another man was there to relieve her.

She nodded her thanks and found her way to a pallet near Colonel O'Neill. 

"Sir?" she said as she closed her eyes. "Braith said a broken leg. Do you think..."

"Rest, Carter," he said but she knew he was as worried as she was.

She let herself fall asleep to the sound of rain.

* * * *

"Teal'c."

Teal'c made his way to the door at O'Neill's soft call.

He opened it and stepped out.

"How is she?" O'Neill asked. "The baby?"

"They are doing well," Teal'c told him. Both she and the infant had been sleeping for hours. "Although the babe was blue when she was born."

"Good." 

O'Neill was troubled—his mouth tight, his body tense.

"What troubles you?"

"Be ready to move out in three hours," O'Neill told him. "They established contact with the light. Braith said there's a broken leg and Daniel's name before we lost contact again."

"At least he is sheltered," Teal'c said. "Daniel Jackson is a strong man."

"I know," O'Neill said. "But it's Daniel."

"He is a most resourceful person," Teal'c felt the need to remind O'Neill of that fact.

There were times they all allowed themselves to forget that simply because the other man had not been a soldier. Of all of them, Teal'c often thought, Daniel Jackson was the most likely to survive in whatever circumstance he found himself. Surely he was the only one of them capable of surviving being captured by an Unas. Or the only one who could manage being ascended and then getting returned to his corporeal form.

It was still raw. That belief that Daniel Jackson could leave them again any time, but there was nothing he could say to relieve O'Neill's worry and concern. He felt it himself. So he said the only thing he could. "I will be ready."

* * * *

At least the water had drained. Daniel felt the strange desire to giggle at the thought, and he no longer heard the wind howling as it had been. He couldn't feel his hands though and he wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. The flashlight had died a while back.

What language was he doing again? What number was he at? His thoughts were becoming increasingly scattered and he was getting hot. He wanted to rip off his jacket but he couldn't quite get his arms to move the way he wanted. 

He made another circuit. Remember those mills he'd learned about in undergrad? The ones he'd seen at Pompeii—the ones that had been powered by humans? Or was he an ass walking round and round moving a grindstone? 

He closed his eyes and kept walking. Had to keep the light on. Why? Why did the light need to stay on? Monsters in the dark? Those monsters coming from the closet? Voices—Goa'uld? Were the Goa'uld here?

Voices—louder now. Voices and they were saying his name, but he didn't want to go with them. Oma, don't take me back. I need them.

* * * *

"Shit," Jack said as he and Teal'c crammed into the small shed that housed the pump.

Daniel was below them in a small room, pushing the manual pump around and around in a circle. He looked awful, his eyes closed, his hands gripped tightly on the wooden handle.

"We can fix the pump," someone said. "But we need him out of there."

Jack nodded. "I'll get him." He lowered himself into the room and touched Daniel on the shoulder.

"Daniel."

There was no response and Jack heard Daniel's low muttering in a some language he didn't recognize.

Okay then. He wrapped his arms around the other man. God, so cold. "You can stop. They're gonna fix it."

"Can't...light...die...." Daniel's voice was hoarse and cracking.

"It's over, Danny," Jack said softly. He put his hands over Daniel's on the handle. "You can let go."

Daniel gasped. "Jack?"

"Yeah," Jack rested his head against Daniel's for a second. "Let go."

"Don't think I can," Daniel told him with what sounded suspiciously like a laugh. He leaned into Jack and laughed again.

"I'll help," Jack said and slowly began peeling back Daniel's fingers. He swallowed hard when he saw the blood staining the wood.

He didn't want to look at Daniel's hands, knew it had to be bad. And where the hell had Daniel put his gloves? Thoughts swirled through Jack's mind—frostbite, hypothermia, and if his hands were bleeding, what about his feet? Not good, not good at all. Not to mention Daniel's precarious mental state at the moment.

"Had to keep it going," Daniel murmured.

"I know," Jack told him. He held onto Daniel with one arm and motioned to Teal'c and the other men who had joined him.

"Watch his hands," Jack warned. 

"Teal'c's gonna get you out of here," he told Daniel. There was no way Daniel would be to hoist himself out of the room, not with those hands.

"Okay," Daniel said. "You gotta keep it moving."

"We will," Jack reassured him and sighed in relief when Teal'c and the others successfullylifted Daniel up into the other room.

Jack pushed himself up and saw Daniel supported by Teal'c.

"We have a stretcher," Teal'c told Jack.

"Good," Jack said and went to Daniel. "Let's get you lying down, Daniel."

Daniel shook his head and took a step. "I can walk." He started laughing again as he took another stumbling step.

"You will not, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said and caught him by the arm. "You will lie down and allow us to convey you to the village."

Daniel paused, a look of confusion washing over his face before he started to fall forward.

"Well this will make it easier," Jack said as he caught the other man. 

Carter stood at the entrance to the lighthouse and was at Daniel's side in an instant. "They took Braith to the village. He said Daniel's been at it for about twelve hours."   
She looked at Daniel, saw his hands. "Oh."

"Yeah, Carter," Jack said. "We'll take care of it when we get him up to the hall."

She nodded and took off at a jog ahead of them. 

"Jack? I'm so tired." 

"I'm here," Jack said. He put his hand on Daniel's shoulder once again. "You can rest. We've got you." 

Teal'c positioned himself at Daniel's head. Yeah, Jack knew how he felt. He walked by the side, never taking his hand off Daniel's blanket covered shoulder.

* * * *

Sam's hands shook as she looked at Daniel's hands. 

"I'm sorry," the midwife said. "Our healer is at another village and won't be back for days."

Sam nodded. Blisters on blisters, raw and bleeding, and where it wasn't bleeding, the skin bone-white. "Oh Daniel," she breathed.

His feet weren't in much better shape and she wished Janet Fraiser was here to tell her what to do. Pull yourself together, she thought. Daniel needs you, take care of him.

"I can help," the midwife said again. "You will need warm water, bandages, yes?"

"Yes," Sam said. "More blankets too."

The woman nodded and left. 

Colonel O'Neill came in, stood by her, frowning. "What do you think?"

"It looks like frostbite, sir," she said. "But I'm not sure how severe. And his feet are the same." 

"It's gotta hurt like hell," the colonel said. 

"I gave him some ibuprofen," Sam said. "If it gets worse..."

"Do your best, Carter," he said. He sat down by the bed. "Damn. Is it bad of me to say I'd wish he'd broken his leg instead?"

Sam grinned. "I was thinking the same thing."

For his part, Daniel slept on. Sam could only hope he'd continue to sleep through her ministrations.

* * * *

Daniel heard voices. It sounded like Sam and Teal'c and Jack, but he using the manual pump wasn't he? Had he fallen asleep at his task? He was thirsty and he thought he'd ask for some water. 

"Daniel? C'mon, Wakey wakey."

"Sir." And there was Sam.

"O'Neill, Daniel Jackson needs his rest." Definitely Teal'c. No one could quite admonish Jack like Teal'c could.

"Mnhuh."

Well that wasn't too promising, Daniel thought. Maybe if he opened his eyes? 

"And Sleeping Beauty awakens," Jack said from right near Daniel's ear.

"Jack. You mind?" Daniel thought his own voice sounded awfully hoarse and there was a weight on his chest. 

"Mind what?"

"Too loud." Daniel went to push him away but..."Ow." 

Sam was there with a mug. "Small sips." 

He swallowed the water gratefully. "Thanks." It helped clear his head a little. "Wasn't I..." And then a sudden thought—the lighthouse. He pushed on the bed to sit up and thought he'd pass out.

"Easy," Jack said and sat on the bed beside him, pushed a few more pillows behind his back for support.

Daniel looked down at his hands—bandaged. He didn't remember that happening.

"You've got some pretty bad blisters on your hands and feet," Sam said. "But the frostbite seems to have been superficial."

"You have been sleeping for sixteen hours," Teal'c added. 

"The storm?" Something was definitely wrong with his voice.

Jack put a hand to his forehead and frowned. "The storm's over and the fleet is home safe and sound." He turned away and looked at Sam. "He's got a fever."

Daniel yawned. He really thought more sleep sounded good. Sam pushed the mug at him again and he obediently drank. 

The last he heard was Teal'c telling Jack to leave him alone once more.

* * * *

Jack heard the muffled ow ow ow as he headed down the corridor to Daniel's office.

"I told you this wasn't a good idea." Only Carter could get away with saying something like that to a very stubborn Daniel and not get her head bit off.

"You too?" Daniel asked.

Jack wasn't surprised to see Daniel hobbling around his office with a visibly concerned Carter and disapproving Teal'c watching his every move.

"Doctor Fraiser told you to remain off your feet, Daniel Jackson." Oh yeah, and only Teal'c could get away with that comment.

Jack knew if he was to say anything remotely simliar he'd get the patented Jackson glare and maybe for good measure the stubborn stance that seemed to be reserved for him alone.

"And I told both of you I'm fine," Daniel said. "It's just blisters. Janet said there's no permanent damage."

"Blisters and bronchitis," Jack said as a reminder.

There it was, the glare and the set jaw. The effect was promptly ruined by the coughing fit that followed.

"Okay," Daniel said when he finished. "I'm sitting. Happy, everyone?"

Carter turned her head and Jack swore he heard a smothered laugh. But Teal'c alone dared to respond.

"We are indeed."

Daniel reached for the bottle of cough syrup, his bandaged fingers making the removal of the lid more difficult. Good job, team, Jack thought as none of them made an effort to help.

Still, Daniel did look a hell of a lot better than he had yesterday when they'd come back home through the Gate. He'd spent most of his time on the Llyria sleeping after his ordeal which had gone a long way towards his recovery.

"So Teal'c," Daniel said as he turned away from his computer to face all of them. "I heard you are now an honorary uncle."

"I am, Daniel Jackson. Enide and Marwyn insisted I be named as such after being present at young Gwendeiniol's birth."

"Daniel? You okay?" 

Daniel had gone a shade paler at Teal'c's words. "I'm fine, Jack." He turned to Teal'c. "Did you say Gwendeiniol?"

"I did," Teal'c told him. "Enide and Marwyn were most pleased with the name."

"We missing something here?" Jack asked. 

"Um...yeah..." Daniel had his head down. "Kinda. Maybe."

"I believe Daniel Jackson is referring to the fact that the child was named after him."

Daniel nodded. "Fair Daniel. I mean, that's the way I'd translate it—I'm not sure they would do the same. But...I wasn't even there. You were with Enide. You were the one who made sure she got to safety."

There were some days Jack just wanted to throw his hands in the air and give up. Seriously, was Daniel always that clueless about his own contributions to things?

"And you saved her dad and the rest of the fishing fleet," Jack said. "Hello?" He pointed to Daniel's bandaged fingers when Daniel looked at him.

"I just kept the light..." Daniel trailed off.

That was it, Jack thought. I am giving up. He might not ever manage to get it through Daniel's admittedly thick skull that yes, what he did, did matter. Hell, the man had given his life to save a whole planet and spent a year in glowy land and still had self doubt.

Although, Jack mused, think of what it would be like living with a Daniel who was supremely aware of his own courage. Maybe the cluelessness was a blessing in disguise, hard as it was.

Well at least there was one thing Jack could take care of—making sure Daniel was fed and watered and cared for.

"Daniel, you're with me. Carter—you're in charge of Teal'c. See you in an hour at my place. It's your turn to pick up the food but no Chinese or Thai because I don't think Daniel's gonna handle chopsticks too well."

"Yes, sir," Carter said like the good 2IC she was. She grinned at him as she and Teal'c left.

For his part, Daniel was left sitting and staring at Jack. "What...what the hell was that?"

"That my dear Doctor Jackson was your commanding officer taking charge." Jack motioned for him to stand. "C'mon. At the rate you're moving, it's gonna be a close call beating Carter and Teal'c to my house." He turned and left. "Don't forget your meds," he called back as a reminder.

He heard a loud sigh behind him as he started down the hall and then some grumbling in some dead language or another. 

"Wait up," Daniel said. 

Jack grinned as Daniel hobbled up to his side. 

"Any time, Daniel. Any time."


End file.
